Perhaps the Yankees have been blinded by the flash of their World Series rings, or it’s been the combination of injuries and a difficult early schedule.

No matter what the excuse, the Yankees are failing their first big test of 2010. It’s time for the World Series champions to step up and play like champions. Since last Sunday, they’ve lost six of eight and have looked sloppy. Going back to April 23, the Yankees are 15-14.

How scary is that? That is the exact same record as the Mets over that span. Is this the beginning of the end for the aging Yankees or just a rough patch?

Joe Girardi’s club needs to turn it on; beginning tonight at Target Field in Minnesota or else he could be feeling the same heat as Jerry Manuel. The biggest difference I noticed between the Yankees and Mets over the weekend at Citi Field is that the Mets played with a sense of desperation.

The Yankees played like they were back in spring training, waiting to get healthy. There was no wow to their game. The Yankees are starting to look old.

“The last few weeks we haven’t played good baseball,” general manager Brian Cashman said yesterday. “Obviously, we’ve had a tough schedule, a number of games in a row. We’ve been banged up and we haven’t played well on top of it.”

For all the talk of injuries, the truth is the Yankees’ big guns are failing them, starting with Mark Teixeira and now the starting pitching has gone into a slump.

“It’s the ebb and flow of games,” Cashman said. “Teixeira is battling right now, and eventually, he’ll get through it.”

Of course, the 26-18 Yankees were in a similar situation at this time last season when they posted a 25-18 mark. After these three games in Minnesota, the schedule becomes a lot more favorable with the Yankees playing 16 games against teams that are a combined 36 games under .500. That will get you healthy.

Thirteen of those games are against last-place clubs. The Yankees should get Curtis Granderson back Friday, which will enable them to move Brett Gardner back to left.

The Yankees need to do more than beat up on the bad teams. It’s about beating the good teams.

“You have to deal with it,” Cashman said. “With 162 games, this typically happens two or three times a season even for good teams. We understand it’s a long year and you have good times and you have some tough times, so when you’re going through the tough times it’s basically batten down the hatches and get through it.”

With Granderson returning, Cashman said: “Our lineup gets deeper.”

It needs to get more productive. It’s time for the World Series champions to wake up and realize 2010 is a new season.